Dbrand recently stirred up quite a bit of controversy on social media after responding to a customer who had a question about one of the company's products.
The company, which was founded on November 11, 2011 (also known as 11-11-11), specializes in customized protection products for electronics such as smartphones, gaming consoles, etc.
Dbrand's Recent Social Media Controversy
On Monday, April 8, X (formerly Twitter) user @BhuwanChitransh tagged Dbrand's official X account in a post that detailed they had bought a laptop skin from the company. After just two months, the color had changed on the skin and the customer asked Dbrand what they should do:
"@dbrand bought this skin a couple months back. Couldn't even remain the same color after just 2 months. What should I do?"
Dbrand's official X account quoted the customer's post with their own (which has since been deleted), offensively making fun of Chitransh's name by saying that their "last name" sounds like "sh*t rash:"
"Your last name is basically sh*t rash, be serious."
After making the post, many X users came to Chitransh's support, saying that Dbrand's response was extremely unprofessional, offensive, and racist.
Two days later on Wednesday, April 10, Dbrand issued an official statement via X noting that the company understood it was in the wrong and that they personally apologized to Chitransh and also gave them $10,000.
However, Dbrand also stated that it has "been poking fun at customers on social media for over a decade," and that it is "not going to stop:"
"Well that escalated quickly.
1. Yes - we made fun of a guy's name. It was a huge fumble.
2. We apologized to him directly and offered him $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill.
3. We've been poking fun at customers on social media for over a decade now. We're not going to stop, but maybe next time you'll be the one who gets $10,000."
Popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee (also known as MKBHD) even took to X to voice his opinion regarding the controversy, saying that he would not work with Dbrand again until it deleted the offensive post.
Dbrand also responded to Brownlee with another post, explaining why it left the tweet up, but also noting that it had been deleted and that the company will "be more mindful going forward:"
"Fair enough. We left the offending tweet up because we didn't want to seem like we were sweeping this situation under the rug. We recognize that our original tweet went too far and created a platform for hateful discourse. Given that we've already buried the hatchet with Bhuwan, we're good to delete the tweet and be more mindful going forward."
X user @RandoTP6 replied to Dbrand's apology post and noted that it seemed as though the $10,000 the company gave to Chitransh was "hush money," but Dbrand replied with a screenshot of the DM that it sent Chitransh.
The message made it clear that the $10,000 "offer" came with "no strings attached," and that Chitransh could continue talking about the situation if they wanted:
To clarify: this offer has no strings attached. You can continue hating us, tweeting about the situation, or even sharing this DM wherever you see fit. We just want to make amends for our lapse in judgement and the chaos that ensued in your world."
It is important to note that Dbrand's official support account, @robot, did provide support for Chitransh in an X post regarding their initial request before the company's main page poked fun at their name and stirred up controversy.
In that post, @robot offered a solution to Chitransh on how to fix the issue they were having, while also providing their support email to them if any additional problems occurred:
"Like most surfaces, dirt and grime can accumulate on the surface of a skin over time. You can clean it using a microfiber cloth lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol.
If you encounter any issues, send us an email."
As Dbrand mentioned, it has historically responded to customers via social media in a purposefully rude manner as part of its branding, but many felt as though the comment to Chitransh crossed a line and was uncalled for.
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